Asish Banerjee, ex-Bengal deputy speaker, found hanging at Trinamool office

He was a five-time MLA from Rampurhat, having represented the constituency for 25 consecutive years starting from 2001. Banerjee, however, lost the seat to Bharatiya Janata Party's Dhruba Saha in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls.

In Short

• Asish Banerjee was a five-time former TMC MLA from Rampurhat
• He lost the seat to BJP's Dhruba Saha in 2026 Bengal Assembly polls
• He was found hanging inside a TMC office near his Rampurhat residence

Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee was found hanging inside a party office in the state's Birbhum district on Sunday.

He was a five-time MLA from Rampurhat, having represented the constituency for 25 consecutive years from 2001 to 2026. Banerjee, however, lost the seat to Bharatiya Janata Party's Dhruba Saha in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls.

His body was recovered from a TMC office adjacent to his Rampurhat residence. This came a day after the former TMC MLA participated in a local Independence Day celebration and hoisted the Tricolour there.

A purported suicide note has also been recovered. In the note, he vehemently denied any wrongdoing, stating he was never involved in corruption throughout his political life.

The exact circumstances leading to the former TMC MLA's death were not immediately clear. Police have launched an investigation and the body has been sent for postmortem.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

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